In this land of over 500 years
of struggle, with the sound of free-flowing rivers, the strength of mountains, barrios and villages, the fury and
tenderness of natural life, the spirit of the ancestors, the hopes and pain of
men, women and children, the people of Berta gather in memory of her rebellious
life.

Photo: Giorgio Trucchi

From April 13-15, 2016, close to
1,500 people from grassroots social movement organizations in Honduras and delegations
from 22 countries have come together for the Berta Cáceres Lives International
Peoples’ Summit in Tegucigalpa and Rio Blanco, Honduras to debate, share and
reflect.

WE DECLARE that we are completely conscious of the fact that Berta Cáceres’s assassination was due to her struggle and the
struggle of COPINH against the criminal, neocolonial, femicidal and extractive model
imposed by the Honduran and international ultra-right wing. They spread this
model through the continent through violent actions such as these
assassinations and through other strategies that undermine justice for the
people, such as the current attempt to carry out a coup d’état against the Brazilian
people. We condemn this coup attempt, which follows in the wake of the nefarious
2009 coup here in Honduras.

WE RECOGNIZE the immense ethical
and practical contribution of our compañera
Berta and her commitment to popular struggles around the world. She brought
her aspirations to life with her radical and honest words, with the depth of her
decolonizing thought, the spiritual strength of the indigenous peoples, a
profound knowledge of and great confidence in popular struggle, and the
international horizons of her vision of emancipation. We assume these elements
of her legacy today with joy and strength.

WE COMMIT OURSELVES to the
struggle, thought, actions and rebellions of this anti-patriarchal,
anti-capitalist, anti-racist vision so that it may continue nurturing the
diversity of struggles around the world that confront the neoliberal logic of death,
which are already being built throughout this continent.

During this summit we have
sought consensus on ideas, proposals and collective alliances between
organizations, countries and political initiatives in order to set in motion the
intentions and desires for transformation, starting at the roots.

Following the Honduran Social
Movement Platform (PMSH), the Berta Cáceres Honduran Grassroots Alliance,
COPINH and the family of Berta Cáceres Flores, we commit ourselves to struggle
for:

Truth
and justice in the crime against Berta Cáceres Flores, which means pushing
for an investigation led by a team that takes the context of her political
practice into account and that identifies all of the perpetrators and
plotters of her assassination and others that are part of their project of
death.

The withdrawal
of the DESA corporation from Lenca territory, the liberation of the Gualcarque
River, struggle for the confluence of collective energies, instruments of
communication, territorial actions, formation of a working group backed up
by international experiences to expel extractive projects from Honduran
territory.

The
definitive withdrawal of military presence from indigenous territory and
grassroots communities, both rural and urban.

The
recognition of COPINH as the organization responsible for watching over
and protecting its territory along with OFRANEH and other legitimate
organizations of the first nations.

Those present at this summit and organized in the Platform
of the Honduran Social Movement commit ourselves to continue the process of
internal unification and strengthening of our proposals for robust
internationalist action, with Berta and her actions as our inspiration and
horizon.

To all peoples of the world, men and women, we invite you
to intensify the struggle with energy and principled unity. We will never give up
hope nor will we wait to bring to life the utopia of justice, freedom and autonomy
that is our legitimate vision for life and happiness on this earth.

In a packed room, grassroots social movements who make up
the Berta Cáceres Popular Alliance met this April 9th to initiate a
path towards unity, towards building principles to guide an agenda of struggle
by organized sectors of the Honduran people.

"We are living through a political, social and economic
moment characterized by the decimation of living conditions for the majority of
the population amidst persecution, threats, assassination of the women and men
of our social movements. In Honduras a repressive and authoritarian model is
consolidating, openly attacking popular organizations," states the
declaration of the alliance’s first assembly, which was read out by Bertha
Zúniga Cáceres, daughter of the indigenous leader assassinated this past March
2nd.

The document condemns the clear will of the national
oligarchy and the transnational corporations to “appropriate our shared natural
resources" through the concession of land, rivers and mineral riches.

Faced with this context, the Assembly demanded the truth be
brought to light about the "political femicide against compañera Berta Cáceres Flores," as
well as the implementation of an independent international commission through
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights."

Likewise, it rejects involvement in the investigation by the
MACCIH (Mission of Support against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras), driven
by the Organization of American States and agreed to with the Honduran
government, and demands the immediate and definitive cancellation of both the
concession given to the company Desarrollo Energéticos S.A. (DESA) to build the
Agua Zarca hydroelectric project, as well as all other extractive concessions
“that are plundering our national territory."

For years, Berta Cáceres and COPINH (Civil Council of
Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras), the organization coordinated
by the indigenous leader, have fought arduously against the development of the
Agua Zarca project.

According to Cáceres’s family, the main trail that should be
followed by the authorities in their investigation should be the struggle the indigenous leader and
human rights defender waged against the extractive model in Honduras, in
particular against the project carried out by DESA and financed by national and
international financial institutions.

"The Assembly served to reaffirm the desire and will to
join together as a grassroots social movement rooted in our diversity. It is
something that we are building bit by bit, but what is important is to continue
focusing on unity in action, with real plans, extensive content, making Berta’s
words ours when she would say ‘Step up the struggle!" Miriam Miranda, Coordinator
of OFRANEH (Fraternal Black Organization of Honduras), told LINyM.

Miranda also highlighted the importance of reaffirming the
need to strengthen territorial resistance struggles against the extractive
model.

The Final Declaration demanded the immediate cessation of
persecution, criminalization, prosecution, violence against and death of the
women and men leading popular organizations.

Likewise, it condemned the "ongoing attack against
workers fired without justification by the regime” under orders
of the IMF and other international financial institutions.

Action plan

The various organizations that make up the Berta Cáceres
Popular Alliance began to create an action plan for permanent mobilization.

"It is about bringing the legacy Berta left us to life.
To do that we have to come together around what unites us and leave aside what
divides us,” explainted the Garífuna leader.

"We re-affirm that for us it is important that this not
just be a confluence, an alliance, a unifying around our demand for justice in
the assassination of our sister Berta Cáceres, but also about building
sustained processes of struggle over the mid- and long-term. It is an
opportunity that we cannot fail to seize, which is why the agendas of each
sector need to fit within this alliance," added Miranda.

The Final Declaration reaffirmed the struggle against "this
system of death and in favor oflife, stepping up our demands in unity and with strength to demand
justice for the assassination of our sister Berta Cáceres Flores," the
document concludes.

The Berta Cáceres Popular Alliance will meet again at the
end of May in COPINH’s "Utopia" center outside La Esperanza,
Intibucá.

Final Declaration
of the 1st Assembly of the Berta Cáceres Popular Alliance

Gathered in the city of Tegucigalpa, capital of the Republic
of Honduras, the grassroots movements making up the Berta Cáceres Lives
Honduran Popular Alliance agree to to begin working toward UNITY built on
PRINCIPLES that will guide an agenda of struggle by all organized sectors of
our people for the liberation of our homeland.

We are living through a political, social and economic
moment characterized by the decimation of living conditions for the majority of
the population amidst persecution, threats, assassination of the women and men
of our social movements.

In Honduras a repressive and authoritarian model is
consolidating, openly attacking popular organizations.

There is a clear will by the oligarchy’s auctioneers and the
transnational corporations to appropriate our shared natural resources through
concessions of territory, rivers and mineral riches to a handful of national
and foreign capitalists.

These conditions of adversity for our peoples’ struggles
come in the midst of a a re-entrenchment of the imperialists’ strategy of
militarization and attack on our territories as well as strengthening of the
Latin American right wing. Faced with this context, we demand the following:

1. Bring the truth to light about the political femicide
against our sister Berta Cáceres Flores; we demand the implementation of an
independent international commission through the IACHR endorsed by the complete
confidence of COPINH and the Berta Cáceres Lives Popular Alliance. We reject
the investigation of her crime by the MACCIH, which we see as an instrument for
the manipulation of national and international public opinion.

2. Immediately and definitively cancel the concessions given
to the DESA corporation to build the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam and cancel
all concessions for extractive projects that are plundering the national
territory.

3. We demand the immediate cessation of persecution,
criminalization, prosecution, violence against and death of the women and men
leading popular organizations.

4. We reject the remilitarization of society and of our
territories as an instrument for repression and control.

5. Our sister Berta Cáceres Flores was assassinated with
bullets as just like thousands of women killed in femicides and men killed in
the name of “social cleansing” carried out by the State in coordination with
paramilitary groups. We demand an end to violence and death.

6. We condemn the ongoing attack against workers fired
without justification by the regime” in order to follow orders given by the International
Monetary Fund and other financial institutions, continuing to deepen the
application of the neoliberal model.

We re-affirm that we continue in the struggle against this
system of death and in favor of life, we will step up our demands in UNITY and
with STRENGTH to demand justice for the assassination of our sister Berta
Cáceres Flores.

Friday, April 8, 2016

The women of the Civil Council of Popular and Indigenous
Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) are speaking up today about the occupation
we are carrying out at the Attorney General’s building in the city of Tegucigalpa.

We are protesting in front of this institution to demand
justice for the assassination of our compañera,
sister and leader, Berta Cáceres. We want them to stop playing around with us
and stop re-victimizing us by denying us the truth and trying to manipulate us.

We demand a clear answer in this case and that is why we
demand that the Honduran government let in an international and independent
commission to carry out an investigation that really goes after the people who
ordered and carried out the assassination of our sister.

We the Lenca indigenous women organized in COPINH demand the
immediate and definitive end of the hydroelectric project ¨Agua Zarca¨ by the
company Desarrollos Energéticos SA (DESA) because it has caused so many deaths,
threats and offenses to the community of Río Blanco and the Lenca people.

We the women of COPINH declare that the Honduran state must
abide by our decisions within our indigenous territory. The state must be held
accountable for After more than 500 years of oppressing us and plundering our
territories, the state must take responsibility for its actions. More than 500 years
of resistance and thousands of years taking care of mother earth make us the
legitimate decision-makers for our territories.

We thank the solidarity of brothers and sisters who have
been supporting their support for our demand for justice.

This is a peaceful protest, just like the hundreds of
protests taking place around the world, which are part of the struggle for
justice, against impunity and in defense of life, for which reason we demand
that the forces of repression, those who provoke confrontation, leave this
protest area and our communities and respect our integrity and our security.

Police, military and security guards at this institutions
violently attacked out brothers, who were hanging a banner with the picture of
our sister, Berta Cáceres. These actions are already being denounced at the
Inter-American Human Rights Commission, since they are a violation of our
protective measures. We ask ourselves, why are the authorities scared of a
picture of our sister Berta? Why are they afraid of the voice of the women of
COPINH? Why all the military and police?

We the indigenous Lenca women organized in COPINH call on
the men and women of the world to join together against misogyny,
discrimination, racism, extraction, and patriarchy.

Tegucigalpa, April 7th, 2016

WITH THE ANCESTRAL STRENGTH OF LEMPIRA, MOTA, ENTEMPICA, WE
RAISE OUR VOICES FULL OF LIFE, JUSTICE, DIGNITY AND PEACE.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

In the thick of night, the women of COPINH keep watch*

Close to 150 women
from COPINH, joined by girls, boys and some brothers showed up in the Honduran
capital of Tegucigalpa yesterday, Monday April 4th.

They arrived
looking colorful, tired, sweating along the route down from the mountains,
communities, villages. They are Lenca indigenous women, peasants, many young,
all fighting for rivers, mountains, spirits, bodies and the earth.

They are called by
the fighting spirit of Berta Cáceres Flores, her words and actions of
rebellion. “She brought us here, Bertita did” one sister tells us as she dries
her tears with the back of her hand. The pain is still stark on the faces of
these sisters.

“We saw her a few
days before they killed her,” the sisters of Río Lindo tell us, “she came when
they evicted us to give us strength, lots of hope.” They came from there to show
that same strength to Berta. They have been camped out since Tuesday at dawn on
this Tuesday April 5th in front of the Attorney General’s office, a place where
time and again they have come to demand the investigation and clarification of
the crime against Berta Caceres Flores, and where time and again there has been
no response.

The demands are the
ones that they have been making since the day of her assassination:

An independent
commission to investigate with the participation of the victims, meaning
Berta’s family and COPINH.

The immediate and
definitive cancellation of the Agua Zarca project that fills the Gualcarque
River with grief.

Respect for the territorial, cultural and political
autonomy of the Lenca people and their organization, COPINH.

While they chain
themselves together and paint the walls of the Attorney General’s offices red
they shout chants for justice and freedom. Full of rage and truth they confront
the callous functionaries: “You have the blood of our sister all over your
hands.”

Tegucigalpa’s
feminist movement and other movements and people from the city back up the
COPINH womens’ action, showing up to accompany them and share what they have
and what is needed for the womens’ encampment.

The sisters arrive
to this city at the precipice of public attention over the scandal of high
police officials ordering the killing of one of their own top prosecutors. These
are the same police that the Honduran state says are responsible for the safety
of the people, of the women.

The women of COPINH
aren’t just on the right side of history because they come from a people
attacked for centuries by racist domination. They let out their cry for justice
at a moment when the country is fed up with the cynisism of those who govern it
and the violence of its institutions. The assassination of Berta Cáceres Flores
is the ‘Enough!’ - ¡Ya Basta! – of
this nation.

From here we call for
everyone to back up the actions of the COPINH women in this city, whether by
sending messages of support, contributions or displays of solidarity to the National
Nework of Women Defending Human Rights.

Tegucigalpa,
Aptil 5th, 2016, 34 days after the assasination of Berta Cáceres Flores.

*The original title of this article, in Spanish, is “Alta es la noche, y las copinas vigilan,” a reference to the Pablo Neruda poem “Alta es la noche, y Morazán vigila,” the Chilean poet’s tribute to Honduran independence leader Francisco Morazán from his famous Canto General.

Since this morning, Tuesday April 5th, hundreds of the indigenous Lenca women of COPINH have been protesting at the Honduran Attorney General's Office, hanging banners from it, painting its windows and doors in red paint symbolizing the blood spilled to stop the construction of the Agua Zarca dam along the Gualcarque River, and demanding justice for Berta Cáceres. Below is an update from the Network of Women Defending Human Rights (Red de Defensoras de los Derechos Humanos) as well as several pictures and videos:

Alert: Members of COPINH attacked, violent displacement feared.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras - April 5th, 2016 - The People's Social Movement Platform of Honduras (PMSPH) alerts that, during the sit-in in front of the Attorney General's office by Lenca women from the Civil Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) members of that organization are being attacked. At 11:20am members of COPINH were hanging a banner with Berta Cáceres's picture when two soldiers and a police officer approached them aggressively and detained Gaspar Sanchez, who was then held for 3 minutes inside the Attorney General's office. During the time that Gaspar Sanchez was detained he was beaten with punches and kicks all over his body. Sanchez was freed due to the pressure from COPINH members outside the offices. During the aggression Selvin Milla, another COPINH member, was also injured with a cut to his foot. Minutes later approximately 120 riot police and soldiers arrived at the offices, along with a police tank, for which reason there is fear of a violent displacement of the people who are on site. This sit-in began at 5:30am, with over 100 Lenca women mobilizing to Tegucigalpa to demand justice for the assassination of Berta Cáceres. Women of different generations, pregnant women and minors are involved. The women of COPINH state that they will maintain the sit-in as planned.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras - April 5th, 2016 - The People's Social Movement Platform of Honduras (PMSPH) alerts that, during the sit-in in front of the Attorney General's office by Lenca women from the Civil Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) members of that organization are being attacked. At 11:20am members of COPINH were hanging a banner with Berta Cáceres's picture when two soldiers and a police officer approached them aggressively and detained Gaspar Sanchez, who was then held for 3 minutes inside the Attorney General's office. During the time that Gaspar Sanchez was detained he was beaten with punches and kicks all over his body. Sanchez was freed due to the pressure from COPINH members outside the offices. During the aggression Selvin Milla, another COPINH member, was also injured with a cut to his foot. Minutes later approximately 120 riot police and soldiers arrived at the offices, along with a police tank, for which reason there is fear of a violent displacement of the people who are on site. This sit-in began at 5:30am, with over 100 Lenca women mobilizing to Tegucigalpa to demand justice for the assassination of Berta Cáceres. Women of different generations, pregnant women and minors are involved. The women of COPINH state that they will maintain the sit-in as planned.
Posted by Red Nacional de Defensoras de Derechos Humanos en Honduras on Tuesday, April 5, 2016

As you know, I am the mother of Bertha Isabel Cáceres Flores, assassinated on March 2nd of this year. A month has gone by since this abominable and cowardly crime took place. I write this public letter despite the pain it causes me, in order to reach as many people as possible with these messages:

1. I want to express my deepest thanks to all of the people, social movement organizations, human rights organizations, representatives of indigenous and afro-descendant peoples, women's organizations, representatives of different churches, diplomats, teachers' organizations, youth organizations, LGBT organizations, environmentalist organizations, members of the media, in summary, to all of those who have shown solidarity during this tremendously difficult time that I have had to live through as a result of this violent crime. The same is true, of course, for my grand daughters and my grandson, who had their mother stolen from them in the most horrendous way imaginable, along with all of the other family members who have suffered this irreparable loss.
I have painstakingly served my people as a midwife, a mayor, a governor and a congresswoman, roles which allowed me to push for the approval of ILO Convention 169, for the defense of women, of children and of human rights in general. At 83 years of age this crime has hit me hard and I am only able to stay strong thanks to the steadfast solidarity that I have received from you. I want to tell you that I hope not to leave this world before achieving justice for my daughter Bertita, who has given her life for our mother earth, for the rights of indigenous and black peoples, for women and for the rivers. For this reason I ask you to please continue to vigorously support me so that we may achieve justice and end impunity in a country so beaten down by the oppressors' political violence against those who work to build a more just and humane society. I reiterate to you my appreciation, and ask that we make our cries for justice even louder, since that is the only way we can end the impunity that has surrounded this crime. You all can decide on the way to do this, whether through a prayer, a poster, a march, a drawing on a wall, or a non-violent but powerful action. Our sisters and brothers have demonstrated enormous creativity. Keep it up, so that a world without violence can one day be possible.

2. Secondly, I write to you to say that it is the Honduran state that is responsible for this crime, for the following reasons: The Honduran state was under obligation to comply with the protective measures ordered to secure my daughter's life, yet the state did not fulfill these international commitments. It was the Honduran state that approved the concessions of our natural resources, including the Gualcarque River, a river that is part of the Lenca territory, without the required prior, free, and informed community consultation, despite knowing that it is required to do so under an international agreement approved by the Honduran state. That agreement is the Untied Nations International Labor Organization Convention 169, which mentions the right to consultation. The violation of this convention has generated tremendous conflict, leading to bloodshet in the communities, assassination of indigenous leaders and environmentalists.
The Honduran state criminalized my daughter by leveraging state institutions to mount several cases against her for the crime of carrying out her work in defense of our natural resources and the rights of indigenous and black peoples in Honduras. The Honduran state has taken it upon itself to defend the private interests of extractive companies, to such an extent that when my daughter, as general coordinator of COPINH, led a march this past February, she was insulted, vilified and threatened by people linked to DESA's interests in front of the police and the army, whose response was to repress her and the Lena people that were mobilizing, going so far as to seize the buses that were transporting them.
The Honduran state contaminated the crime scene instead of preserving and investigating it. It has been a month already and despite national and international pressure, the state has been unable to capture the material or intellectual authors of this crime that has brought grief to our family and our people.
After the coup d'état lists of people to be targeted by death squads for assassination circulated. The first person on those lists was Bertha Isabel.
I know that nobody can bring my daughter back to life, but that will not stop my determination to fight with all of my strength so that Bertita's assassination does not remain in impunity. That means fighting for the Honduran state to allow an independent commission to investigate this painful assassination and to cancel all of the concessions of natural resources that have been handed out in clear violation of ILO Convention 169, particularly the concessions along the Gualcarque River, for which my daughter struggled and continues to struggle from wherever she may be. It means the Honduran government must commit to not allow any more crimes against the women and men who defend human rights. That Honduras allow our family to participate in the investigation. That the Honduran state cease the criminalization of COPINH and the social movement organizations.
I would like for UNESCO to designate the Gualcarque River as part of humanity's cultural and natural heritage.

I also want to use this opportunity to express how happy I am that Gustavo Castro, a dear friend and another victim of this crime, has been able to return to his country.
I close by asking that all of our people in Honduras and all of the peoples of the world take up the struggle in defense of life and mother earth. Towards that end, I leave you with the words of my daughter: “WAKE UP HUMANITY, THERE'S NO TIME LEFT.”
With conviction, appreciation and solidarity, sincerely,
Austra Bertha Flores López

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News Sources / Fuentes de Noticias

Radio Progreso has radio updates (Spanish only) directly from the from the front-lines of the resistance in Honduras.

Une TV is one of the only independent national TV stations in Honduras

Rights Action has been doing good reporting and commentary as events unfold and has people on the ground monitoring the situation. They are also a reliable vehicle through which to get money to the organizations fighting for the restoration of democracy in Honduras.

Defensores en línea is the best (Spanish-only) online source for regularly updated information on the violation of human rights in Honduras.

Spanish - website of the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras about the struggle of the Garifuna people and other resistance and environmental struggles.

School of the Americas Watch has good background information on the coup-plotters training at the Georgia-based School of the Americas / (also known as the School of Assasins) as well as news updates on the coup and a call to action.